Trauma Informed Dental Care Workshop - INDIVIDUAL SESSION BOOKING
Expand your knowledge and confidence with an informative workshop on trauma-informed care in Dentistry. Presented by Dr. Sharonne Zaks AM, this session will equip you with practical approaches to supporting patients affected by trauma, dental anxiety and phobia.
Description
Session 1 Friday morning approximately 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
This first session will explore the nature of trauma and the challenges it creates for the dental team.
The topics we will cover are as follows:
-Why survivors of trauma struggle with dental visits and their oral health: the impacts of trauma.
-Prevalence data: understanding the scale of sexual and family violence.
-How survivors present to us and what to look out for: the impacts of trauma on oral health and the challenges these create.
Session 2 Friday afternoon, approximately 1:00/1.15 p.m. to 4pm/4:15 p.m.
In this session we will begin to explore how we can address the challenges discussed in the morning session with practical strategies.
The topics we will cover are as follows:
-The trauma informed framework, including how to build trust and safety, collaborate with, and empower our patients.
-Clinical tips and practical strategies for trauma survivors, anxious, and phobic patients for the whole dental team for before, during, and after appointments.
-Depending on time and participant preferences, we may or may not cover the clinical practice guidelines for sexual and family violence for dental teams. This includes asking about safety, responding to disclosures, referrals for support, reporting, and documentation.
This topic will most likely be covered on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. Or, potentially not at all if decided by the group.
Session 3 Saturday morning half day.
In this final session we will explore self-care in the context of working with trauma survivors for dentists and other oral health professionals, and all practice staff. This includes understanding the sources of stress and fatigue in our work, prevention of compassion, fatigue, vicarious, trauma and burnout, exploring boundaries and the pressure we put on ourselves, and self-care strategies for when we're at and outside work.
There are also a number of other elective topics that we will explore if there is time and interest, including working with our LGBT+ patients, elder abuse, and others.
Please note: these session topics and times are general and subject to change based on participant preferences, the variable amount of time for questions and discussions in between topics, and the flow of the workshop. Staff are welcome to attend individual sessions.
Presenters
Dr Sharonne Zaks AM has 27 years of experience in private dental practice in Melbourne and regional Victoria with a special interest in working with anxious and phobic patients, and survivors of sexual assault and trauma, who travel from across Australia for her care.
A passionate educator, Dr Zaks AM is a clinical lecturer at the University of Melbourne, where she completed her undergraduate degree. She regularly speaks at conferences and events across Australia and internationally.
The compassionate approach she has developed incorporates the trauma-informed principles, her clinical expertise, and ongoing research into dental anxiety, phobia, and trauma. It benefits patients, clinicians, and staff, and is being taught locally and internationally.
She is the first person to comprehensively integrate the trauma-informed approach into dentistry, including developing a new protocol for working with patients impacted by family violence for dental teams in private practice.